The FAQ says it has one input for cable and one input for antenna and it can record two programs at a time from any mix of sources. So does this mean it can record over the air HD from the cable input in addition to the antenna input? Do I split my silver sensor to each connection or will I be able to record two over the air HD broadcasts if the antenna is connected to the single antenna input?

What about one single-stream card?
If only one CableCARD is inserted, the entire system reverts to single-tuner operation. You lose dual-tuner support for antenna and analog cable, as well as digital cable. Unlike the S2DT, the S3 is not capable of asymmetric operation.

I talked with Tivo support today and they said the Series 3 will work with one cable card and antenna/cable as the other tuner. You can dual tune the regular stations but the digital stations will be single tune since you only have 1 cable card
to tune the digital stations. The Tivo User guide states you need two cards for dual tuner but they are talking about dual tuning digital channels so what support said may be right. Anyone have a single cable card and antenna/cable for the other tuner to verify this?

Anyone have a single cable card and antenna/cable for the other tuner to verify this?

I tested it with one CableCARD - that's how I found out about the limitation. With just one card the second tuner was *gone*, disabled completely.

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I talked with Tivo support today and they said the Series 3 will work with one cable card and antenna/cable as the other tuner. You can dual tune the regular stations but the digital stations will be single tune since you only have 1 cable card
to tune the digital stations. The Tivo User guide states you need two cards for dual tuner but they are talking about dual tuning digital channels so what support said may be right. Anyone have a single cable card and antenna/cable for the other tuner to verify this?

They are confusing the behavior of the S3 with that of the S2 DT (symmetrical tuner vs asymmetrical).

With S3 using one single stream CableCARD, the box only works as a single tuner regardless of source. No dual tuning just on antenna or analog cable when that single card is in place. This is the only configuration that takes the S3 down to single tuner status.

We're looking into whether or not this behavior can be modified in the future, but this is how it works right now.

I personally utilize 1080i fixed to avoid the slowdown and flickering, although it is possible that some video will suffer slight degradation during upconvertion, but it hasn't been much of an issue.

I *really* wouldn't want to correct the manufacturer but if you're going to set a fixed resolution the best one to use is the "native" format for the set, so I would set it to 720p if you have a 720p set.

That being said I might recommend that folks experiment with the options. Your TV set might have better upsampling/downsampling hardware or software than the external box. I know with my Hitachi that's usually the case.

I *really* wouldn't want to correct the manufacturer but if you're going to set a fixed resolution the best one to use is the "native" format for the set, so I would set it to 720p if you have a 720p set.

Yes. I have a 720p set, and every setting other than 720p fixed causes problems ranging from long image drop-outs while changing channels to flat-out losing the picture.

Are CableCARDs able to be swapped into another S3? For example, I have my S3 setup with 2 CableCARDs and suddendly my hard drive fails and I am sent a replacement S3. Can I just remove the cards, install in new S3 and don't have to call cable co.? Or are CableCARDs married to a particular S3?

Are CableCARDs able to be swapped into another S3? For example, I have my S3 setup with 2 CableCARDs and suddendly my hard drive fails and I am sent a replacement S3. Can I just remove the cards, install in new S3 and don't have to call cable co.? Or are CableCARDs married to a particular S3?

You will have to call the cableco and possibly have a tech do the swap for you. The cablecards are "married" to the equipment they are installed in, so they can't be swapped.

Are CableCARDs able to be swapped into another S3? For example, I have my S3 setup with 2 CableCARDs and suddendly my hard drive fails and I am sent a replacement S3. Can I just remove the cards, install in new S3 and don't have to call cable co.? Or are CableCARDs married to a particular S3?

Depends on how your cable company is set up. If they're using any form of copy protection, the cards need to be bound to the host (the slot on the S3). As soon as you move the card (or put a different card into the slot), that breaks the binding, and you'd have to call your cable company to re-bind the cards.

If the cable company doesn't take down the HostID from each slot, there's no way they could have done the binding.

If they do take the number, that doesn't mean you require the binding, but they could change that at any time.

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My question deals with the new Series3 and the home media option. My house has two TV's and one Tivo. If I were to buy the new Series3 and move my lifetime subscription to the Series3, what happens to my older Series2. Can I link the two so I can watch Tivo programs on either TV? It is enough to pay for service for one Tivo.

My question deals with the new Series3 and the home media option. My house has two TV's and one Tivo. If I were to buy the new Series3 and move my lifetime subscription to the Series3, what happens to my older Series2. Can I link the two so I can watch Tivo programs on either TV? It is enough to pay for service for one Tivo.

No, that's called "MultiRoom Viewing" and it's not possible at this time with the Series 3. TiVo says they're working on it and hope to enable it one day... but as with all things of this nature... no guarantees.

If I buy an S3 and transfer my S2 lifetime warranty, and elect not to buy service on the old unit:

1) Will I still be able to use the S2 to record shows by time and date? If so,

2) Will I continually get nag screens telling me I need to buy service?

3) Will TiVo disable the ability to transfer shows to my PC (since the S3 apparently won't do this)?

4) I don't use credit cards. If I give a friend the cash to order an S3 for me, will TiVo try to automatically start charging her credit card after 12 months to continue service on my old unit?

My current status: I don't have (or want) satellite or cable. I have an "over the air" HD Decoder allowing me to watch HD shows live on my HD Ready TV, and a Series 2 for recording shows in standard defnition if I'm not home.

If I buy an S3 and transfer my S2 lifetime warranty, and elect not to buy service on the old unit:

1) Will I still be able to use the S2 to record shows by time and date? If so,

2) Will I continually get nag screens telling me I need to buy service?

3) Will TiVo disable the ability to transfer shows to my PC (since the S3 apparently won't do this)?

4) I don't use credit cards. If I give a friend the cash to order an S3 for me, will TiVo try to automatically start charging her credit card after 12 months to continue service on my old unit?

My current status: I don't have (or want) satellite or cable. I have an "over the air" HD Decoder allowing me to watch HD shows live on my HD Ready TV, and a Series 2 for recording shows in standard defnition if I'm not home.

If you use the VIP offer to transfer lifetime to the S3, the S2 will have free service on it for one year.

It is amazing how TiVo is changing my buying habits. I was all set to subscribe to DirecTV and buy a DirecTiVo, then DTV announced they were dropping TiVo. So that put that on hold. Then I was waiting for the S3 to see what features it had. Now CATV suddenly looks good simply because of the S3's CableCARD support.

As I mentioned in another thread, $800 seems like a bit much because I don't have any HD hardware yet so I'm going to use it as an NTSC device for a while and that means I'd actually be minus features for a while. So things I'm waiting to hear about are:

What the eSATA port will do (DVD burner, backup disc, RAID 1 mirror or external data storage are all good)

Will the USB ports do any of that (stuff above)?

MRV?

TiVoToGo?

But I'm not in a rush, I'm hoping around the time most of those questions are answered (with approximate availability dates) that the S3 price will have dropped a bit.

...Then I was waiting for the S3 to see what features it had. Now CATV suddenly looks good simply because of the S3's CableCARD support. As I mentioned in another thread, $800 seems like a bit much because I don't have any HD hardware yet so I'm going to use it as an NTSC device for a while and that means I'd actually be minus features for a while.

You're kidding, right? I honestly wouldn't bother with S3 if you don't have a HD set to connect to it.

Quote:

So things I'm waiting to hear about are:

What the eSATA port will do (DVD burner, backup disc, RAID 1 mirror or external data storage are all good)

Nothing yet.

Quote:

Will the USB ports do any of that (stuff above)?

Nope.

Quote:

MRV?

Not (yet?).

Quote:

TiVoToGo?

Not (yet?).

Quote:

But I'm not in a rush, I'm hoping around the time most of those questions are answered (with approximate availability dates) that the S3 price will have dropped a bit.

Good thing you're not in a rush. I'd say since you don't yet have an HD set, skip the S3 at this point. Get a S2 if you don't already have one so you at least don't have to watch live TV. The boxes can be bought (used w/o service) for next to nothing, or in some cases, new ones can be free after an activation rebate.

I have an S3, but I wouldn't have bothered if our old SD TV hadn't died, causing us to consider for six months (and ultimately decide to) upgrade to an HD set. I think it's still early for HD in terms of the amount of content available (especially on older Comcast 550 MHz systems like in Sunnyvale), but once you get over the hurdle of buying the results are nothing short of spectacular. (I had no idea Rick Steves' Europe was now in HD thanks to PBS, and it's beautiful!)

It does if you set the aspect ratio to 4:3...
However, it does not if you set the aspect ratio to 16:9.

Thank you! I believe that's a new feature for TIVO.

I have a Sony HD 200 STB. It also stretches 4:3 formatted material being sent over an HD channel, if the 1080i/720p signal is forced to 480p. It does a much better job of stretching than the older boxes and TNT HD...when they stretch SD material.

I'm hoping because of the quality of the series 3, the stretching is barely noticeable. It's a personal preference, but if the tuner will stretch evenly from the outer 1/4 of the picture, I would rather watch that picture than the black/grey bars.

I can't verify the cable length right now, but they are not very long. I would suggest getting a longer set so you can pull out the tivo without disconnecting cables each time you need to mess with a cablecard (hopefully not very often).

Now that the S3 is in my house, I am starting a fund for a rotating component rack system. I have had enough with all the cable mess.

I hope this is a quick newbie question. I'm thinking of getting the DVR set top box to go with the S3 for additional recording capacity. In other words, no cable cards. The set top box and S3 both have dual tuners. If I set this up as cable to box to Tivo will I be able to record on the STB and still access a different channel with Tivo at the same time? The cable guy says that when TIVO changes the channel of the STB I'm stuck on the same channel for both. Thanks.

I hope this is a quick newbie question. I'm thinking of getting the DVR set top box to go with the S3 for additional recording capacity. In other words, no cable cards. The set top box and S3 both have dual tuners. If I set this up as cable to box to Tivo will I be able to record on the STB and still access a different channel with Tivo at the same time? The cable guy says that when TIVO changes the channel of the STB I'm stuck on the same channel for both. Thanks.

You're getting a cable supplied DVR? Just use a splitter and feed each box a line.

I hope this is a quick newbie question. I'm thinking of getting the DVR set top box to go with the S3 for additional recording capacity. In other words, no cable cards. The set top box and S3 both have dual tuners. If I set this up as cable to box to Tivo will I be able to record on the STB and still access a different channel with Tivo at the same time? The cable guy says that when TIVO changes the channel of the STB I'm stuck on the same channel for both. Thanks.

The S3 cannot control a cablebox (to the best of my knowledge), since it doesn't have any inputs other than the coax ones (there are no Component/Composite/Svideo inputs). Therefore, the S3 doesn't have the ability to control a cable box for recording purposes, since it can't record from any external source, other than the possible exception of being able to record an RF modulated output from a cable box. This approach would be a collosal waste of money, though (you can't record in HD this way).

You could use a cable DVR and an S3 at the same time, but you will need cablecards to get 2-tuner capability, and the ability to record any digital channels that are normally encrypted by the cable company. In addition, you can't record digital channels that are sent unencrypted (local HD channels are sometimes supplied this way) unless you do manual recordings. You can't map these channels to the Tivo guide at this time, so season pass recordings on these types of channels aren't possible.

So, after exhaustive reading I haven't seen this answered yet. I know that the output is simultaneous for each output on the TiVo. I know the aspect ratio is global for all outputs. Is there a button on the remote to change the aspect ratio? Or do you have to go into the setup to do that? I want to set the S3 up with my HD TV in one room and pipe the composite up to my SD TV and I don't want to have a bunch of button presses to get the picture correct for each TV. Hope I've explained this clearly enough.